Was stupid for MSM and the opposition party to jump on this story the way they did. I knew it was a "too good to be true" thing but we've had a long time since the last totally debunked story, so it was ripe to be overplayed. Hilarious that anyone would jump on a BuzzFeed story without any level of skepticsm though.

That said, there's been some developments since then regardless. Cohen lawyer not confirming or denying the content as well as BuzzFeed editors being adamant the story is 100% accurate, further bolstered by Giuliani doing the circuit to say "well even if he coached Cohen before his testimony, it wasn't illegal".

With all the extra noise going on, Buzzfeed getting the story wrong is similarly believable as, say, Mueller's office putting out that statement because they want more substance before they commit to it or they just want to leave the most incendiary stuff for the final report and not show their hand.

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While Buzzfeed has had a few journalistic problems in the past, they have also had some stellar investigative reports. With their previous blunders, I would hope they would have done their homework before releasing something of this magnitude. I think the Mueller office statement is telling simply because it's non-specific. And of course you've got Giuliani running his mouth.

It will be very interesting to see what transpires over the next few weeks.

If you believe Nick Sandmann, I'd be interested to know if you're in the market for a bridge I've got for sale.

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He and the other parents that blamed 'black muslims' are total shit for brains. Not because of their political alignments but because they made themselves sound WORSE with their statements, when meanwhile the footage of the full event did NOT match their narrative but still altered the scenario into their favor.

First of all, the group that targeted the MAGA kids were HEBREW ISRAELITES. A little ignorant to call them Muslims. Second, Sandmann should drop the fucking Boy Scout routine; I get the situation because I was an asshole kid too but acting like he was either confused or doing something noble is knowingly bullshit.

Kinda surprised that whole incident has lasted this long in the news cycle

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It's mostly on account of that exceptionally punchable face.

Also, that Native American guy didn't help matters either. Neither he nor Sandmann, nor the adults interviewed sufficiently explained what happened and it took three day before we even heard what 'actually' happened. That guy in particularly stoked the fires of accusation against the teens as if it were 1-on-1, including the people in his camp that said they were chanting "build the wall" and "Trump 2020", neither of which were true.

1) The Mueller team's response was NOT a blanket denial, even though Trump and members of his team have tried to pitch it as such. Rather, they dispute the accuracy of "specific statements and testimony," but not all statements and testimony, or the conclusions. They've been playing their cards very close to their chest, so there's clearly something amiss if they're willing to publicly weigh in... But they gave a very limited denial, and I think that matters.

1) a) Semi-relatedly, Trump was quick to mention the Steele dossier as an example of something else Buzzfeed had been wrong on, like they had a history of running inacurate stories about him. This is false, in two ways. One, the story was about Steele putting the dossier together and submitting it to the FBI and not that they were vouching for the accuracy of the contents, and yes, the Steele dossier clearly existed... and two, while some of the more sensational rumors enclosed have not been proven or disproven (I have a friend still planning to host a viewing party if the pee tape ever surfaces), a rather lot of the dossier HAS been either proven, been admitted to, or had fairly strong supporting evidence come to light (for example, the claim Cohen was in Ukraine for a meeting wiht Russian agents, which at the time he denied saying he'd never been to Ukraine, is much more believable now that we know his cell phone connected to a cell tower in the city in Ukraine where the meeting was alleged to have occured, at right around the time it would have had to happen). So, their credibility is fine.

2) I can't see Mueller releasing a press conference stating that certain statements were inaccurate, and lying, to give them more time to work. He's a lifetime intelligence agent, he believes in due process, he's said almost nothing to the press, he's investigating a man actively waging a disinformation campaign, and he knows exactly how Trump would spin that press release. Something in that statement must be inaccurate. I just don't think it's all the statements, and I don't think it's the conclusion.

There's also Giuliani walking back his comments about Trump continuing to work on the Moscow tower deal through the election...

Also, that Native American guy didn't help matters either. Neither he nor Sandmann, nor the adults interviewed sufficiently explained what happened and it took three day before we even heard what 'actually' happened. That guy in particularly stoked the fires of accusation against the teens as if it were 1-on-1, including the people in his camp that said they were chanting "build the wall" and "Trump 2020", neither of which were true.

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It's also one of those situations where something happens apart from the main reason why most people were there in the first place. The Women's march got completely overshadowed by this sh*tshow, it's par for the course here though.

Any chance this will happen soon? I would have expected it already, given that you seemed to imply that I wouldn't have any fact-based ideas, and that any ideas I had would be weak and easily rebutted. If that idea and my thinking are so weak, it is disappointing that you have been unable to think of a response given that low bar you claimed.

I'll be sad if you're not up to the challenge, so I'm pullin' for ya, buddy!

Oh, and for those who prefer to get their news from Fox, here's an interesting little news story: even when asked three times in a softball segment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley refused to deny that there is any evidence supporting that recent Buzzfeed story.

sometimes the seriousness we are required to treat both sides of a political debate drains my life force because one side is the hamburglar and the other varies from neoliberalism to friggin maoist third world-ism